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Culture beat: 21 August

12:41 21/08/2015
Step outdoors for festivals, alfresco aperitifs and a giant flea market

City workers are gathering in Place Léopold Wiener, Watermael-Boitsfort this evening (Friday) for the latest serving of  Les Apéros Urbains. The afterwork event is every Friday until 21 September, from 17.00 to midnight.

Outdoor fun continues on Sunday with a new music concept by Play Label and Bistrot Urbain called La Palette, un dimanche en ville. In a landscaped Uccle courtyard, enjoy brunch from 11.00 to 15.00 and an aperitif from 17.00 to 22.00 accompanied by gastronomic bites and delicious cocktails. With a musical programme of French chanson and live DJs, divide your time between reclining in a deckchair or making moves on the dance floor. From 10.00 to 22.00 at 406 Rue Vanderkindere.

The annual summer contemporary performance extravaganza Brigittines International Festival is in full swing at les Brigittines theatre in the Marolles. Dance dominates the programme by international artists. A Belgian premiere on 25 and 26 August, Tsunamism - Recital for two strings in M by Portuguese dancer Elizabete Francisca, is performed alongside Belgian Compagnie Mossoux-Bonté’s Vice Versa. You can meet all the artists after the show on 25 August. The festival continues until 29 August.

Brussels Summer Festival enters its final weekend with Northern Irish alternative metal band Therapy? plus Belgian roots-rock outfit Triggerfinger entertaining the crowds in Place des Palais on Saturday evening.

The party continues in the Royal Park next week as Ancienne Belgique’s annual outdoor music festival Feeërieën stages concerts by emerging artists from 24 to 28 August. The opening concert on Monday includes a performance by contemporary classical composer Christina Vantzou.

Outside Brussels

The annual celebration Chassepierre Street Arts Festival returns to the pretty town of Florenville on Saturday and Sunday. On the banks of the River Semois in the province of Luxembourg, enjoy a festive programme that includes Belgium’s Mirador, dancing on a giant wheel; Japanese yoyo maestro Naoto; English acrobat Mimbre; the giant pavement art of Spain’s Toni Ortiz, and retro circus Cirque du Platzak (pictured).

Mons 2015 showcases its slew of new museums with the first ever Nuit des musées montois tonight (Friday). From 18.00 to midnight, nine cultural spaces open their doors to the public with a programme that promises to be youth-orientated and original. They include BAM, Mons Memorial Musuem, the Mundaneum, Doudou Museum and Artothèque.

The largest flea market in Belgium, Brocants de Temploux, is an annual rendezvous for collectors, sightseers and the downright curious. The event in the village of Temploux, just outside Namur is easily accessible from the E411/E42 motorways, but be prepared to park your car some distance away as stands fill 6km of streets in the village. Visitors come from far to pick up a bargain with Saturday dedicated to collectors and a comic strip festival taking place all weekend. On Saturday evening, there’s music, partying and a firework display at midnight. From 7.00 on Saturday until 18.00 on Sunday.

Written by Sarah Crew